Microsoft on Friday said it has completed its acquisition of the Nokia Devices and Services business.

 As announced earlier, Microsoft will not acquire the factory in Masan, South Korea, and the factory in Chennai, India will stay with Nokia due to the tax liens on Nokia’s assets in India that prevent transfer, the company said in a statement.

As a result, Microsoft will welcome around 25,000 transferring employees from around the world, it said.

It said the acquisition has been approved by Nokia shareholders and by Governmental regulatory agencies around the world. The completion of the acquisition marks the first step in bringing these two organisations together as one team, it said in a statement.

“The mobile capabilities and assets they bring will advance our transformation. Together with our partners, we remain focused on delivering innovation more rapidly in our mobile-first, cloud-first world,” Satya Nadella, Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft, said.

Former Nokia President and CEO Stephen Elop will report to Nadella, who will serve as Executive Vice-President of the Microsoft Devices Group, the company said.

It said Elop will oversee an expanded devices business that includes Lumia smartphones and tablets, Nokia mobile phones, Xbox hardware, Surface, Perceptive Pixel products, and accessories.

Microsoft welcomes personnel with deep industry experience in more than 130 sites across 50 countries worldwide, including several factories that design, develop, manufacture, market and sell a broad portfolio of innovative smart devices, mobile phones and services, it said.

As part of the transaction, Microsoft will honour all existing Nokia customer warranties for existing devices beginning April 25, it added.

Furthermore, with the Nokia mobile phone business, Microsoft will target the affordable mobile devices market, a $50-billion annual opportunity delivering the first mobile experience to the next billion people while introducing Microsoft services to new customers around the world, the statement said.

Microsoft will continue to deliver new value and opportunity, and it will work closely with a range of hardware partners, developers, operators, distributors and retailers, providing platforms, tools, applications and services that enable them to make exceptional devices.

With a deeper understanding of hardware and software working as one, the company will strengthen and grow demand for Windows devices overall, the statement added. 

Support programme for employees in Masan, Chennai plants

"Amid the uncertainty for our employees in Chennai and because of the planned closure of our facility in Masan, Nokia plans to offer a programme of support, including financial assistance, which would give our employees the chance to explore opportunities outside Nokia starting from a sound financial base," said a separate statement issued by Nokia.

Nokia plans to bring to Chennai and Masan elements of its Bridge programme, which would be made available for employees affected by company changes in other sites, the release said.

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